The New England Patriots squeezed out a 13-10 win over the New York Jets last night in one of the ugliest football games I have ever seen. The Patriots’ offense was a disaster and the only reason they won was the fact that the Jets’ offense was an even bigger disaster. Without top receiving threats Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins were given their first major test.

The result? They failed miserably. By my count Dobson had four drops and Thompkins had two and each was out of place on numerous routes. Tom Brady was visibly upset with his young wideouts at multiple points and they struggled throughout the night.

Don’t let the box score stats fool you. Dobson was horrible and Thompkins wasn’t much better. To be fair neither has any experience but catching the ball is catching the ball. That is the one thing rookie receivers shouldn’t have a problem with. The Patriots were crippled offensively without any outside receiving threats and this problem doesn’t figure to go away.

Don’t think the return of Amendola and Gronk will fix all the Pats’ problems. Both of those two players almost exclusively work the middle of the field as does Julian Edelman. Without a legitimate outside presence there simply won’t be enough space for those three players to operate at maximum effectiveness.